Customer Plus is working in partnership with Birmingham City Council to provide internal communications advice and expertise to deliver its innovative Working for the Future programme. This is transforming the Council's back office workplaces and bringing new ways of working to improve customer service.

Building on the success of the Council's workplaces at 1 Lancaster Circus, Birmingham City Council has opened the doors of 10 Woodcock Street, its new flagship office in Aston.

10 Woodcock Street, located close to Aston University, will become the base for over 3,000 Birmingham City Council employees. Employees will start to move into the new workplace on a phased basis from November 2011 with the building being fully occupied in late 2012. The new £38million workplace provides an enhanced working environment and ultimately will help improve customer service for the citizens of Birmingham.

The opening event marked the handover of the building from Thomas Vale Construction to Birmingham City Council and was commemorated by an event for local school children during the day and a civic ceremony in the evening hosted by the Lord Mayor, including the unveiling of two time capsules which were created by children from Chilwell Croft Primary School and Perry Beeches Secondary School.

Customer Plus Director and all-round customer service expert Paul Cooper, picked up the Lifetime Achievement Award at the European Call Centre & Customer Service Awards at the London Hilton last week.

Paul said “I am delighted to have won this award. Many thanks to everyone for your kind words and support. It was a wonderful surprise and a very emotional evening."

Our congratulations go to Paul – due recognition for a fantastic career dedicated to improving customer service.

Paul is an internationally recognised authority on customer service and a former director of the Institute of Customer Service, the UK’s independent, professional membership body for customer service.

Customer Plus and Birmingham City Council are celebrating after the 1 Lancaster Circus project was awarded the honour of best refurbished/recycled workplace by the British Council for Offices Midland and East Anglia.

Customer Plus is working in partnership with Birmingham City Council to provide internal communications advice and expertise to deliver its innovative Working for the Future programme. This is transforming the Council’s back office workplaces and bringing new ways of working to improve customer service.

The 1 Lancaster Circus project involved innovative communication techniques to engage  key stakeholders, including over 2,000 employees, quickly and effectively.

Richard Beevers, MD of Customer Plus said “This award recognises the innovative approach taken by Customer Plus and the 1 Lancaster Circus project team to deliver a modern public sector workplace that meets the requirements of its users. We are incredibly proud to be at the heart of this successful project and we wish Birmingham City Council all the best for the BCO national awards”.

The British Council for Offices award provides a benchmark in excellence in workplaces, recognising innovation, top quality design and functionality. The 1 Lancaster Circus project team, including Customer Plus, was praised by the judges who said “Each category was highly contested and is a tribute to the tremendous innovation and talent within teams delivering fantastic workspaces for the end user.”

The 1 Lancaster Circus project now goes forward  to compete for the best of the best at the BCO national awards in  London this October.

And the winner is…

Customer Plus
Automotive/Transport Category

Customer Plus is celebrating after winning a prestigious national award for its "Moments of Truth" customer service excellence programme created for motor industry giant Ford Retail.

The company won the Automotive/Transport category of the Marketing Excellence Awards 2010, organised by the Chartered Institute of Marketing, beating the likes of Shell, Europcar, the RAC and Yamaha in the process.

Moments of Truth has been delivered by Customer Plus to 3,300 Ford Retail staff in more than 50 car dealerships across the UK during the past two years.

Richard Beevers, MD of Customer Plus, said: “We’re thrilled to have won this award. We had a fantastic night and were incredibly proud to have been shortlisted in the first place. To actually win the award against such distinguished competition is an extraordinary achievement for a company of our size.”  

Richard Beevers was also shortlisted for the UK Marketer of the Year award at the event in London’s Grosvenor House Hotel, but was up against formidable competition in a category that was eventually won by Caterina Malandri of Coca-Cola.

The Moments of Truth customer service excellence campaign has already won several awards for Ford Retail in recent months with more in the pipeline.

Most notably, Customer Plus has been nominated for the Customer Engagement category in the Management Consultancies Association Awards and Richard Beevers is on a shortlist of three candidates for the Marketing Consultant of the Year at the same industry flagship awards.

The champagne's on ice at Customer Plus following more prestigious awards nominations for our Moments of Truth customer experience programme.

Customer Plus has been shortlisted in two categories in what are generally considered the marketing industry's Oscars, the CIM Marketing Excellence Awards:

• Automotive/Transport category for Ford Retail
• Richard Beevers nominated for UK Marketer of the Year

And at the Management Consultancies Association (MCA) Awards (more like the Oliviers):

• Best Customer Engagement project for Ford Retail
• Richard Beevers nominated for Marketing Consultant of the Year

The nominations come weeks after shortlisting in the Midlands Excellence Awards (see full story below).

Created for national car dealership network Ford Retail, the project delivered a customer experience improvement programme to all 3,300 staff across more than 70 dealerships nationwide.

Richard said: "These nominations and awards for Moments of Truth are the result of a great team effort. We are clearly delighted by the recognition and it is an accolade in itself simply to be nominated. It shows that small firms like Customer Plus can compete at the highest level through hard work and professionalism."

Ford Retail has already picked up the Best Training or Development Project Award in December's National Customer Service Awards for the scheme, with judges describing Moments of Truth as "a comprehensive training and development programme to deliver an ongoing platform for achieving great customer service delivering outstanding results for both business and satisfaction levels."

The first ceremony, the Midlands Excellence Awards, takes place on 3 February 2011 followed by the CIM Awards on 15 February and the MCA Awards on 7 April.

Derbyshire management consultancy Customer Plus has been shortlisted in the Customer Service category of the Midlands Excellence Awards.

The Duffield company was nominated for its groundbreaking work in delivering its Moments of Truth customer service excellence programme to Ford Retail’s 70 dealerships and 3,300 staff across the UK.

Customer Plus is up against five other finalists hoping to be announced as the winner at a prestigious awards dinner in Birmingham on 3 February 2011 hosted by Sir Ranulph Fiennes.

Richard Beevers, managing director of Customer Plus, said:
“Just being shortlisted is a tremendous accolade.  And it shows that small firms can compete at the highest level through hard work and professionalism.”

The annual Midlands Excellence awards scheme is designed to recognise the best of the best in the Midlands. The competition is the largest of its kind in Europe and is open to private, public and voluntary organisations of any size.

The five other shortlisted organisations in the new Customer Service Excellence category are Hereford-based public service provider Amey, ESOS IT, Stoke-based Hanley Economic Building Society, Severnside Housing, of Shrewsbury, and Birmingham-based Trident Housing. Other award categories include: Innovation, Sustainability, Lean Efficiency and Learning & Development.

The Moments of Truth programme has already received high plaudits elsewhere this year. Ford Retail was announced winner of the Customer Care category at the 20th annual Motor Trader Industry Awards in July.

And in May, the motor retailer joined the likes of Virgin Media and Santander in being awarded “training mark” accreditation by the Institute of Customer Service (ICS), in recognition of Moments of Truth.

The same month, Ford Retail reported “a substantial profit increase” for the year ending December 31, 2009, turning a pre-tax loss of £0.85m the previous year into a pre-tax profit of £15.7m, despite the challenging economic conditions.

Customer Plus is leading by example by achieving the Customer First Standard. Recognised as the national standard for customer service, Customer Plus were required to show compliance with 32 statements relating to building customer relationships, maximising market awareness and developing their people.

Showing that they really are the experts when it comes to customer service excellence, Customer Plus sailed straight through their assessment first time. This was a fantastic achievement considering only 25% of committed organisations achieve the standard on their first assessment.

Sue Lightburn who assessed Customer Plus commented “Customer Plus are a really helpful and friendly team with a genuine aim of helping their customers. The quality and content of the work they produce can be seen in their outstanding case study examples and through the high levels of repeat business they acquire. The design and quality of materials produced is excellent with distinctive ideas and approaches that differentiate Customer Plus from others.”

Now Customer Plus have been through the process and achieved the mark for themselves they are now the ideal choice for other organisations who see customer service excellence as a priority. Customer Plus has plenty of experience in implementing customer service improvement programmes for clients such as Ford Retail, Greene King, Helena Homes, and Connect Plus. They also have several approved Customer First consultants enabling them to support and guide organisations wanting to achieving the Putting the Customer First Standard.

If you would like to find out more about the Putting the Customer First Standard or any other services that Customer Plus offer then please contact us on 01332 840422 or email us at care@customerplus.co.uk.

Following the success of last year's 'Living the Brand' event, Customer Plus hosted a second free networking event on Tuesday 5 October 2010, titled 'The Business Benefits of Customer Service Excellence'.

The evening was geared towards anyone keen to improve business performance by retaining and winning more customers. It saw Directors and Managers from across a number of business functions, including Marketing, Sales, HR, L&D and Customer Service, attend.

The following three speakers, known for their expertise in the customer excellence arena, brought the subject to life through theories, figures, examples and humour:

• Richard Beevers - Managing Director, Customer Plus
• Ted Stone - National Customer Advocate Manager, Fulcrum Infrastructure Services
• Angie Court - Former Customer Service Director, Avis Europe

Chaired by Paul Cooper, ex Head of the Institute of Customer Service, the evening highlighted the financial benefits of creating a customer focused culture, whilst addressing some of the challenges along the way.

Over 60 delegates attended and here are just a few of the positive comments Customer Plus received the next day:

"Great to meet you all last night. I enjoyed speaking to Richard and really liked your sociable attitude to business."
David Lomas, M3 Publishing Ltd

"Another fantastic event from Customer Plus. The speakers were brilliant and as usual the Customer Plus team were on top form. Please let me know when you will be holding the next event as I have a number of contacts that I know would be interested in coming along."
Richard Mayer, The University of Derby

"Thank you once again for inviting me to your event last night. I was really impressed by the quality of the speakers; they've certainly given me a lot to think about."
Chris Walton, FG Walton

Following the strict training programme and assessment process, five members of the Customer Plus team have recently become Customer First approved consultants. Putting the Customer First® is the National Standard for Customer Service and independent research has identified the following top five ‘Real Impact’ measures for organisations that have achieved Customer First:

• Real Impact: Increased financial turnover
• Real Impact: Improved services
• Real Impact: Winning new customers
• Real Impact: Competitive differentiation
• Real Impact: Customer loyalty

As approved consultants the Customer Plus team will work with organisations to improve and develop their customer service, focusing them on achieving the Customer First Standard. Support is tailored to the organisation’s needs and may involve some of the following:

• In–house workshops
• Facilitating working groups
• Help in preparing for a Customer First assessment
• Developing approaches to customer service
• Support in maintaining a Customer First status

If you are interested in hearing more about the Customer First Standard please email care@customerplus.co.uk or call us on 01332 840422.

Customer Plus held their first business seminar at Pride Park Stadium on the 25th November 2009.

The event, entitled ‘Living the Brand’ brought businesses from across Derby up to date on how to maximise the profitability of their brand and transform their customer’s experience. The following speakers, from a range of industries, shared their thoughts on the subject with some fantastic examples of their own initiatives:

Richard Beevers, Director, Customer Plus
John Leathem, Customer Experience Director, Ford Retail
Tim Hinchey, Executive Vice President, Derby County Football Club

The event was chaired by Paul Cooper, ex Head of the Institute of Customer Service, who had some great anecdotes from his exciting career in the industry.

Over 60 delegates attended the event with most giving positive feedback afterwards:

“Thank you for inviting me to your event last night, I thought the evening was well put together, with some excellent speakers”
Alex Memmott, ProCo

“Just wanted to thank you for the event last night, it was a great success and I really enjoyed listening to all the presentations”
Morag Lehrle, Customer First

Customer Plus have brought in Paul Cooper, ex-head of the Institute of Customer Service (ICS), as a non-executive director.

Cooper has appeared on Radio 4's flagship Today Programme, You and Yours and Working Lunch and is a founding member of the ICS and former CEO of Ford Credit Global.

You may have seen him discussing the pros and cons of contact centres on Watchdog, back in May 2009.

Customer Plus has been commissioned to train 2,800 frontline and backroom staff in excellent customer experience.

Designed around six key behaviours, the training will be delivered to staff working in showrooms, garages and offices to improve their customer service at critical moments.

The six behaviours; be efficient, keep your promise, be helpful, be polite, make it personal, and go the extra mile, combine to improve customer service to colleagues as well as customers.

John Leathem, Customer Relations Director of Ford Retail, said:
“This is one of the most significant initiatives Ford Retail has ever undertaken. Given the current state of the economy, Moments of Truth will be more important than ever as customers become ever more demanding. Customer service and value for money will be at the top of their agenda; this is how we will stand out from the competition.”

The scheme is part-funded by the Learning & Skills Council.

North East Lincolnshire Council (NELC) is promoting the Diploma with materials designed by Customer Plus.

The materials, including a stand, brochure suite, posters, a practitioners guide and Diploma Explained booklet, are designed to support the introduction of nine new qualifications in September 2009.

They were commissioned in line with a communications strategy, also created by Customer Plus, to ensure students were aware of the new options.

Targeting year nine and eleven students making their picks for the next academic year, the campaign coincides with this period and national marketing activity.

The nine Diplomas will attract 500 new students between them.

Andy Clough, Advisor for Student Achievement at NELC, said:
“The quality of the work Customer Plus produced, the customer care, and the attention to detail have all been first class.”